A major consultation process on the management of landslide hazards in the Whakatāne District is making good progress.
Studies undertaken for the Whakatane District Council on the landslide hazards associated with the Ōhope, Whakatāne and Matatā escarpments have identified approximately 1,500 properties where the occupants could be at risk from landslides and, in the case of Matatā, debris flows. Letters and information summaries were sent to all of the property owners involved in July and August, together with a response form on consultation options. Just over a quarter of property owners contacted have indicated a desire for further consultation, with close to 60 percent of the respondents seeking either one-on-one or neighbourhood meetings. Council staff have met with all of the property owners who sought individual meetings, and over the next few weeks they will undertake a series of neighbourhood group and key stakeholder meetings to complete the initial consultation process.
Council Development and Compliance Manager Jeff Farrell says the consultation process is proving very useful, and its outcomes will be used to guide the next stages of the hazard management project. “Some significant themes have come through, and we will be endeavouring to address those in the management strategy we develop for Council approval,” he says.
Feedback received to date includes:
- A need for more certainty about how to manage the effects of vegetation and stormwater run-off on escarpment stability
- Many residents understand and accept the risks associated with landslides and do not want onerous mitigation measures introduced, either for people wanting to upgrade properties in moderate or high hazard areas, or in particular, for properties in low hazard areas
- Site-specific characteristics should be taken into account so that property values, insurance and Land Information Memoranda (LIMs) are not unfairly affected
- Low hazard properties should not have LIMs information recorded or be included on hazard maps
- Council should look to facilitate site-specific engineering assessments to reduce the costs for property owners
- While its statutory responsibilities are recognised, the Council should look to minimise its involvement in managing landslide hazards
Mr Farrell says the Council has commissioned additional work to provide site specific modelling of debris flow hazards to properties on the Awatarariki Stream debris fanhead in Matatā, with the intention of achieving a more detailed assessment of the properties where development could proceed, with appropriate conditions, and those where the level of risk makes any development impracticable.
“While we were aiming to report the outcomes of that work this month, we think it is sensible to include the information provided within a wider landslide hazard management strategy report to Council in November, so that we can ensure that our approach is consistent with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s Proposed Regional Policy Statement.”
He says the landslide hazard management strategy is likely to cover early warning systems and self-evacuation procedures, hazard reduction works for properties where new development is proposed, the provision of information relating to building design and escarpment vegetation and run-off, and possible District Plan provisions to control development in high hazard areas and encourage hazard mitigation works.
During the consultation process, Council staff identified a number of instances where property hazard ratings had not been correctly assigned. Any inconsistencies in the hazard map interpretation will be addressed in the next information update for property owners.